The survey conducted last May 20-26 showed Binay getting 81% approval rating from respondents, with only 4% expressing disapproval and 15% undecided.

The survey also showed 78% of Filipinos saying they trust Binay, compared to 18% undecided and 4% with little to no trust on the vice-president.

Prof. Ronnie Holmes, president of Pulse Asia, said the trust and performance ratings of the country’s top 5 officials were little changed since the last survey in March.

In an interview with ANC's Dateline Philippines, he attributed Binay’s high trust and approval ratings to the vice-president’s own performance.

“People I think will see that he is performing his functions, the functions assigned to him by the President. If I am not mistaken, at present the Vice-President is the chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and has also been assigned to handle cases involving OFWs,” he told ANC’s Dateline Philippines.

“He has fulfilled those functions and people have been approving and bestowing high trust on the VP. The trust and approval rating of the vice-president has remained the same as October 2010, very high,” he added.

Aquino also got 65% trust rating in the latest survey while Enrile had a 62% trust rating.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte had a 37% approval rating and a 29% trust rating.

Corona gets lowest approval, trust ratings

Former Chief Justice Renato Corona, meanwhile, had the lowest approval (12%) and trust (10%) ratings in the last survey. Pulse Asia noted that 60% of respondents are critical of Corona’s performance.

“The majority sentiment toward Supreme Court Chief Justice Corona’s trustworthiness is one of distrust (65%) while half of those aware of House Speaker Belmonte cannot say if they trust or distrust him (50%),” the survey said.

CJ trial didn’t affect trust ratings

In the interview, Holmes said the Corona impeachment trial did little to affect the trust and approval ratings of the country’s top officials.

Holmes said the President continues to get “significant majority approval” in terms of performance and trust but noted that his ratings neither improved nor declined as the trial was ongoing.

“There has been no change in the approval and trust rating of the President as the impeachment trial was going on. We conducted the survey May 20-26 and there was no change even when the trial was going on. There has not been any effect, positive or negative, on the performance and trust ratings,” he said.

In the case of Corona, he said the former chief justice’s trust ratings dropped last March compared to the November survey. He said Corona’s ratings shifted to “generally approving and trust to disapproving and distrusting the chief justice.”

He also noted Corona’s approval and trust ratings remained the same in May.

No change in SC, Senate, House ratings

Meanwhile, performance and trust ratings for the Senate, House of Representatives and the Supreme Court were unchanged in May compared to the last survey.

The Senate got 48% approval and 44% trust ratings in the latest survey; the House of Representatives had 45% approval and 41% trust; while the Supreme Court had 44% approval and 41% trust.

"While 41 percent to 44 percent of Filipinos express trust in Congress and the Supreme Court, 41 percent to 47 percent cannot say if they trust or distrust these government institutions. On the other hand, 10 percent to 18 percent of Filipinos distrust Congress and the Supreme Court," Pulse Asia said.

The poll was conducted from May 20 to 26, 2012, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 respondents. It has a ± 3% error margin at the 95% confidence level.